Freddie Reports Fixed Mortgage Rate Decline

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate slipped slightly to 5.38% during the week ending March 18 from 5.41%, while the average rate for adjustable-rate mortgages inched down to yet another record low, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate remained unchanged from the previous week at 4.69% and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs fell to 3.39% from 3.41% the week before, the lowest the rate has been since Freddie Mac began tracking it in 1984. Fees and points averaged 0.7 of a point for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages and 15-year FRMs and 0.6 of a point for ARMs. "Mortgage rates this week are barely above the generational low levels we saw in June of last year," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "Indeed, Freddie Mac's annual average forecast of long-term mortgage mortgage rates is approximately 5.75% for the 30-year FRM this year, well below the 33-year historical average. That said, we are currently predicting that this will fuel yet another record year for total home sales." A year ago, the average 30- and 15-year fixed rates were 5.79% and 5.11%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 3.75. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.